'Soul Music: Taking the Pulse of Race and Music' by Candace Allen

[Candace Allen]

Sergio Mims sends a press release for a non-fiction book by novelist Candace Allen:

Why has music got such a powerful hold over our thoughts, particularly when race is involved?

Veteran of (or foot soldier in) one of the many cultural wars of the late 20th century, Candace Allen finds grounds for hope in the, for her, unlikely realm of Western classical music.

After charting her progress into Black Cultural Nationalism and out again, Allen set out to find if the pitched battles between "our" music and "their" music persisted among young people engaged in serious music study in Palestine, Venezuela, Scotland, the streets of London and Kinshasa.

In all cases, the unexpected answer she discovered was no. Tribal multiculturalism is a 20th century artefact counter-productive to the global realities of the 21st century and that without the lingering prejudices of 20th century cultural warriors, coming generations would cross

boundaries and embrace others with unfettered curiosity and often abandon.

Candace Allen published her first novel, Valaida, with Virago (Little Brown). This is her first work of non-fiction. She has written for the Guardian and Independent and has appeared on various radio programmes such as the Today Programme in relation to her work for the Obama campaign. She was the first black female Assistant Director to join the Director's Guild of America, currently

she lives in Islington, London.